Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/792390
IN THE WIND P28 YAMAHA ANNOUNCES 2017 bLU cRU OFF-ROAD TEAMS Y amaha officially announced its off-road teams for 2017, headlined by the N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha team and the revamped Raines Riding University/Atlas Sales/Trail Jesters Yamaha team. Between the two squads, Yama- ha riders will take on the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC), National Enduro and Full Gas Sprint Enduro Championships. Led by team owner, seven- time AMA National Enduro Cham- pion Randy Hawkins, the N-Fab/ AmPro Yamaha team features new rider Ricky Russell, who will compete aboard a YZ450FX in the GNCC Series XC1 class. Josh Toth is back for his second season with the team, and he will race a YZ250FX in the GNCC XC2 class. Russell and Toth will focus on GNCC for 2017, while also racing at select rounds of both the AMA National Enduro Championship and the Sprint Enduro series. Grant Davis also returns to the team and will compete aboard a YZ85 in the GNCC Youth class. GNCC and OMA Champion Paul Whibley will be assisting the Am- Pro team with rider development and training. The Raines Riding University/ Atlas Sales/Trail Jesters Yamaha team, led by six-time National Hare Scrambles Champion Ja- son Raines, has gone through a complete transformation for 2017. Ross Mauri of the Trail Jesters is now on board to provide addition- al support and guidance, both on and off the track, to the team's young riders. Those riders include Braxton McGee and Trevor Barrett, who will race YZ250FX machines in the GNCC XC2 class. The team has expanded to include amateur riders Zach Toth on a YZ250X in the 250A class, Kevin Messena on a YZ125 in the 125 division, and Parker Goyette on a YZ85 in the Youth class. Zach, Kevin and Parker will primarily race in J Day Offroad even for 2017, but they will also compete at select rounds of the GNCC and Sprint Enduro series. CN CHARLOTTE MXGP CANCELED A fter just one year on the FIM Motocross World Championship schedule, the Charlotte round of the 2017 MXGP Series, the Grand Prix of the United States, scheduled for September 3, has been canceled. Youthstream, the organizers of the series, made the announcement on Friday, February 24, via a release. No reason was cited, but evidently Youthstream decided it was too cost prohibitive to continue to host a race at such a large venue. New owners of the facility also might have had their say about the race coming back to the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Guiseppe Luongo, head of Youthstream, hopes the Charlotte round will be replaced by another venue in the U.S. on the same date. "It is possible (Charlotte doesn't go ahead)," Lu- ongo was quoted saying on the website MXLarge. com. "Now its two months talking to them, and it can be that they step back. The cost of the event in a big structure is expensive, and even with a good spectator turnout, which it was and we expect more this year, still it isn't enough for what we need for an event like this. I am sure we have another option and I am sure it will be a Grand Prix in USA." CN Charlotte has been taken off the 2017 MXGP schedule.